The existence of lethal and crippling diseases creates an ethical problem, specifically the use of quarantine. Governments and leaders may find the question of whether quarantine is justifiable with the use of psychological studies on those affected by quarantine. The psychological effects of quarantine during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak were observed in a Toronto-based study. A web-based survey and validated scales such as the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) were used to evaluate the impact of quarantine on the 129 participants. 28.9% reported symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 31.2% reported symptoms of depression. Higher prevalence of PTSD was associated to those exposed to longer durations of quarantine and to people with direct exposure to victims of SARS.
Details can be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no7/03-0703.htm
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